Phillyist: Monday Manners: Getting a Little Old-Fashioned

converger

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 23:37:40 -0500

I was walking down Market Street one day with my brother and his wife (my brother's wife was walking nearest the street) and some homeless guy told my brother "You ain't supposed to be walking on that side" or something. Being from New England, this tradition was new to me, so we didn't really understand what the hell he was talking about...

sachi

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:10:13 -0500

i never knew about this rule, until i dated a boy who refused to let me walk on the outside of the sidewalk. at the time, i thought it was quite chivalrous, but of course, this was before i found out this was the only redeeming quality the boy had (notice how i dated a boy, not a man).

phillyDude

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:52:09 -0500

I grew up in the South and was taught this rule. I still practice it today even though my (philly)wife thinks I'm nuts. I always heard it was to protect the lady. It seems to me like even today, the dangers come from the street, which is why the man is supposed to be street side.

pasha

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 10:44:30 -0500

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it originally that the man would walk on the inside? This was so that anyone careless enough to not look before emptying a chamberpot out of a second story window would hit the man, not the woman. With the advent of indoor plumbing, the man is now supposed to walk on the outside to prevent the lady from tripping into the street or getting splashed by cars.

Jill

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:27:40 -0500

Yeah. I do, actually. I'm named for dead great-grandparents, and you don't want to anger the dead. Or the living people who named you for people they truly loved and cared about. When my great grandmother died, I made a promise at her funeral that I would continue to respect both she and her husband—my namesakes. Also, as a matter of sheer practicality, once you're published, ANYWHERE, you don't want to go and change the name you're published under elsewhere. It helps to keep things consistent, so that if anybody wants to find you, they know how. To change my name at this juncture would be irresponsible and rude.

EGMoney

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:00:42 -0500

Could you possibly have any more middle names? Do you really need to list them all?

Chris

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:44:37 -0500

I'm pretty sure this rule of etiquette actually had its origins in the defunct custom of tossing the contents of one's (or ones' master's) chamberpot out the window and into the street below. Now that this practice has died out, adhering to the accompanying custom you mention seems silly and anachronistic. When I'm walking with a woman, I do try to ollobe cognizant of things like grates, puddles, tree roots, etc., but those things don't stick to the inside or the outside of the sidewalk. Etiquette is wonderful, but I think, as you've said above, it should defer to common sense instead of blindly followinging meaningless rules.

Jill

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 17:10:39 -0500

General rule of thumb, at least in the south and according to many manners coaches (because of the tripping into the street thing), but especially courteous on yucky days like today.

Pete

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 17:01:13 -0500

Is this a general rule of thumb or just on days like today and yesterday? Grew up in New England and the midwest, and honestly didn't know about this rule.

Jill

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:18:48 -0500

I think that's probably fair.

JW

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:57:06 -0500

while you may be correct about the splashing, my wife prefers to walk stret side to avoid 1)homeless people 2)homeless people's feces 3)birds that will inevitably poop on your head